Systems for authentication and related devices and methods

ABSTRACT

A gemstone includes: a table defining an area; and a scanable indicia formed in the gemstone at least partially positioned within an orthographic projection of the area extending along an axis, the axis extending perpendicularly through the table.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present disclosure claims the benefit of Provisional PatentApplication No. 63/434,242, filed on Dec. 21, 2022 and entitled “SYSTEMSFOR AUTHENTICATION AND RELATED DEVICES AND METHODS”, the contents ofwhich is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present specification generally relates to authentication devicesfor confirming authenticity of items and, more specifically, itemshaving scanable indicia that indicate authenticity of the item.

BACKGROUND

Traditional gemstones are cut to maximize an amount of light that passesand is reflected through the gemstone, resulting in increased brightnessand fire of the gemstone. The brightness and fire can be increased byincreasing a number of facets in the gemstone, and by minimizing a sizeof a culet. Gemstones may also be inscribed with a marking to identifythe gemstone. However, these markings are traditionally inscribed at asmall size to make invisible without magnification of the marking.Generally, these markings require over 10× magnification to be seen soas to not affect the aesthetic of the gemstone. Accordingly, specialequipment is necessary for a person to view the marking on the gemstone.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a gemstone includes: a table defining an area; and ascanable indicia formed in the gemstone at least partially positionedwithin an orthographic projection of the area extending along an axis,the axis extending perpendicularly through the table.

In another embodiment, a method of authentication, the method includes:cutting a gemstone to form a table defining an area; forming a scanableindicia at least partially positioned within an orthographic projectionof the area extending along an axis, the axis extending perpendicularlythrough the table.

In yet another embodiment, a gemstone includes a scanable indicia formedinto the gemstone that is sized to be visible between 1× and 1000×magnification, the scanable indicia is configured to convey informationwhen scanned by a scanning device.

In yet another embodiment, a gemstone includes: a table; a culetextending parallel to the table, the culet defining an area; and ascanable indicia formed in the gemstone at least partially positionedwithin an orthographic projection of the area extending along an axis,the axis extending perpendicularly through the table and the culet.

In yet another embodiment, a gemstone includes: a table defining anarea; and a means for conveying information when scanned by a scanningdevice, the means formed in the gemstone at least partially positionedwithin an orthographic projection of the area extending along an axis,the axis extending perpendicularly through the table.

These and additional features provided by the embodiments describedherein will be more fully understood in view of the following detaileddescription, in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative and exemplaryin nature and not intended to limit the subject matter defined by theclaims. The following detailed description of the illustrativeembodiments can be understood when read in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, where like structure is indicated with likereference numerals and in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a side view of a gemstone with light passingtherethrough, according to one or more embodiments shown and describedherein;

FIG. 2 depicts a top view of the gemstone of FIG. 1 having anilluminated portion and a nonilluminated portion, according to one ormore embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 3 depicts a side view of the gemstone of FIG. 1 having a scanableindicia etched therein, according to one or more embodiments shown anddescribed herein;

FIG. 4 depicts a bottom view of the gemstone of FIG. 3 , according toone or more embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 5 depicts a top view of the gemstone of FIG. 3 , according to oneor more embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 6 depicts a scanning device for scanning the scanable indicia ofthe gemstone of FIG. 3 , according to one or more embodiments shown anddescribed herein;

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart of operation of the scanning device andgemstone of FIG. 6 , according to one or more embodiments shown anddescribed herein;

FIG. 8 depicts another gemstone having a crown with five facets, a tablehaving a shape as a pentagon, according to one or more embodiments shownand described herein;

FIGS. 9A and 9B depict side and front views of another gemstone having athickness of 1.2 mm, according to one or more embodiments shown anddescribed herein;

FIGS. 10A and 10B depict side and front views of yet another gemstonehaving a thickness of 0.5 mm, according to one or more embodiments shownand described herein; and

FIG. 11 schematically depicts a round, brilliant cut diamond overlayedwith the gemstone of FIG. 9A, according to one or more embodiments shownand described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-7 generally depicts a system 10 (FIG. 6 ) and a method 100 (FIG.7 ) for authenticating an item. The system 10 generally includes agemstone 12 and a scanning device 14. Referring to FIGS. 1-5 , thegemstone 12 may be any traditional gemstone 12 that can be etched orlaser treated, such as a diamond, a sapphire, a ruby, an emerald, or thelike. As used herein, a “gemstone” may refer to either of a lab-growngemstone (e.g., formed in a lab), or a natural gemstone (e.g., formed inearth and obtained through mining). For further example, this mayinclude a lab-grown diamond and/or a natural diamond.

The gemstone 12 may include a table 16, a culet 18 extending in parallelwith the table 16, a girdle 38, a crown 30 extending from the table 16to the girdle 38, a pavilion 36 extending from the girdle 38 to theculet 18, and an indicia 20. However, it is contemplated and possiblethat the gemstone 12 may be cut to include any combination of the above,or surfaces and portions in addition to the above. For example, agemstone 12 as described herein may not include a culet 18. For furtherexample, the gemstone 12 may be puck or wafer shaped having the table 16and the culet 18 be the same or similarly sized and a single surface,such as the girdle 38, extending between the table 16 and the culet 18.Referring again to FIGS. 1-5 , the culet 18 may extend substantiallyparallel to the table 16, where the table 16 may define an area A1 andthe culet 18 may define an area A2. The crown 30 may extend obliquely tothe table 16, and may extend from the table 16 to the girdle 38. Thepavilion 36 may extend obliquely from the culet 18 to the girdle 38,with the girdle 38 disposed between the crown 30 and the pavilion 36.Each of the crown 30 and the pavilion 36 may include a plurality offacets 32, 34 that define a shape of the table 16 and the culet 18, suchthat the table 16 and the culet 18 may have a shape selected from one ofan octagon, hexagon, pentagon, square, rectangle, circle and triangle.For example, the crown 30 may include four facets 32 such that the table16 is shaped as a rectangle or a square. It is further contemplated andpossible that the table 16 and/or culet 18 may have any operable shapefor framing the indicia 20. The gemstone 12 may define an axis Xextending through a geometric center of the gemstone 12 to extendsubstantially perpendicular through the table 16 and the culet 18.

As shown in FIG. 1 , light L enters into the gemstone 12 through thetable 16 to reflect off of the pavilion 36 on one side of the gemstone12 to the pavilion 36 on the other side of the gemstone 12, and outthrough the table 16. This reflection of light L causes the gemstone 12to appear bright (e.g., sparkle) when viewed. The trajectory of light Ldescribed above and shown in FIG. 1 is merely exemplary, such that thelight L may pass through any portion of the gemstone 12 and reflect offof any of the pavilion 36, the crown 30, the girdle 38, the table 16,and the culet 18. When light L enters the table 16 along the axis X andthrough the table 16 at a location where an orthographic projection 22of the area A2 intersects the table 16, the light L passes through theculet 18 without reflecting off the pavilion 36, thereby reducing theamount of light that passes out of the table 16. With the reduced lightpassing through the table 16, the gemstone 12 has an illuminated portion24 and a nonilluminated portion 26 separate from the illuminated portion24, the illuminated portion 24 having a greater brightness than abrightness of the nonilluminated portion 26. It is contemplated andpossible that light may still pass through the nonilluminated portion26, where the nonilluminated portion 26 is less bright than theilluminated portion 24. The nonilluminated portion 26 may be a volume ofthe gemstone 12 that intersects the orthographic projection 22 of thearea A of the culet 18 along the axis X. In embodiments, thenonilluminated portion 26 may be the entire volume of the gemstone 12that intersects the orthographic projection 22 of the area A of theculet 18 along the axis X.

Referring to FIGS. 3-5 , the indicia 20 may be a scanable indicia 20,such as a barcode (e.g., a QR code) or any other code that may bescanned to convey information. The indicia 20 may act as a means forconveying information when scanned by a scanning device. For example, aQR code may convey information, such as a web address, when scanned bythe scanning device 14. The QR code may be any standard QR code,including micro QR codes. The QR code may conform to the QR codestandards set out in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code andhttps://www.qrcode.com/en/codes/microqr.html, each of which areincorporated by reference in their entireties.

Barcodes, including QR codes, require contrast between the barcode andthe medium that the barcode is positioned on. For example, the barcodemay appear darker than the medium so that the barcode may berecognizable and/or scanable by a barcode scanner. Without contrast, thebarcode may not properly be scanned by a scanner. The indicia 20 may beformed in the gemstone 12 at the nonilluminated portion 26, where theindicia 20 has a laser treated portion 20 a (appears black) and anuntreated portion 20 b (appears white). The laser treated portion 20 ais formed by laser treating a location within the gemstone 12 that turnsthe carbon atoms of the gemstone 12 into graphene, causing the lasertreated portion 20 a to appear darker than the untreated portion 20 b.The darkness of the laser treated portion 20 a creates a contrast withthe untreated portion 20 b of the gemstone 12, thereby forming theindicia 20 capable of being scanned by the scanning device 14. The lasertreated portion 20 a may include individual data points that each have awidth. In the embodiments that the barcode is a QR code, the data pointsmay be squares. The QR code may be sized relative to the table 16 tohave a margin spacing the perimeter of the QR code from the perimeter ofthe table 16, where the margin is at least 4 times the width of the datapoint. The culet 18 may be sized to have a width that is equal to orgreater than a width of the QR code. In embodiments where the culet 18is circular, the width is equal to a diameter of the culet 18.

When positioned at the nonilluminated portion 26, the contrast betweenthe laser treated portion 20 a and the untreated portion 20 b isincreased, such that the laser treated portion 20 a is more visible. Asdiscussed in further detail below, the indicia 20 may be formed at aposition in the gemstone 12 such that light L reflecting off of thepavilion 36 may intersect the indicia 20 and reflect off of the indicia20 to create further contrast between the laser treated portion 20 a andthe untreated portion 20 b.

As depicted in FIG. 3 , the indicia 20 may be formed in the gemstone 12below a surface 28 of the table 16 and a surface 29 of the culet 18 tobe positioned between the surface 28 of the table 16 and the surface 29of the culet 18. The indicia 20 may be positioned below the girdle 38,between the girdle 38 and the culet 18. Alternatively, it iscontemplated and possible that the indicia 20 is formed into the surface28 of either of the table 16 or the surface 29 of the culet 18 to bepositioned on one of the surfaces 28, 29. It is further contemplated andpossible that the indicia 20 is formed on a surface of one gemstone 12that is then fused with another gemstone 12 with the etching positionedbetween the gemstones, such that the etching is positioned between atable 16 and a culet 18 of a gemstone 12 that is formed by the twogemstones. The indicia 20 may be at least partially positioned withineither or both of an orthographic projection 23 of area A1 extendingalong axis X and the orthographic projection 22 of the area A2 extendingalong the axis X, so that, when viewed along the axis X, the indicia 20is positioned to overlap with the table 16 and the culet 18. Whenpositioned in the nonilluminated portion 26 to overlap with the table 16and the culet 18, the contrast between the laser treated portion 20 aand the untreated portion 20 b is increased as light reflected from thefacets 32, 34 and pavilion 36 does not pass through the orthographicprojection 22 of the area A along the axis X. Additionally, light Lreflected from the facets 32, 34 and pavilion 36 passes through theorthographic projection 22 of the area A at an angle perpendicular tothe axis X to intersect the indicia 20, thereby reflecting light off ofthe indicia 20 and increasing the brightness of the indicia 20, therebyfurther increasing the contrast between the laser treated portion 20 aand the untreated portion 20 b. In embodiments, the gemstone 12 mayinclude a surface treatment below the girdle 38 that reflects diffusedlight through the gemstone, including the pavilion 36 and the culet 18,to further increase contrast and restrict light L from passing throughthe gemstone 12 below the girdle 38. The surface treatment may be apaint, coating, bruting, or the like that enables maximum contrastbetween the indicia 20 and a background (e.g., the pavilion 36 or theculet 18) when the indicia 20 is read from about the table 16. The paintor coating may be a white, light-colored enamel, or any other color thatreflects diffused light, and may not be a mirrored finish. Inembodiments where the surface treatment is bruting, a diamond-gritsandpaper, a diamond, or the like may be used to abrade the surface ofthe gemstone 12 to increase a surface roughness to increase an opacityof the surface. The surface treatment may not be a polishing or the likethat decreases surface roughness of the gemstone 12. In someembodiments, the surface treatment may include cutting or formation ofthe surface (e.g., cutting the culet), faceting the surface to have adiffusing pattern, or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the indicia 20 may have a size that iscapable of being viewed without specialized equipment, such as amicroscope. The indicia 20 may be sized relative to the size of thetable 16, as discussed herein, such that an increase in the size of thetable 16 results in an increase in the size of the indicia 20. It isfurther contemplated and possible that the indicia 20 may be any sizecapable of fitting within the gemstone 12 and being readable, such as,for example, having a width that is equal to or greater than 0.1 mm, ormore particularly, 0.25 mm to have an area of 0.25 mm by 0.25 mm. Forfurther example, the indicia 20 may be visible and/or scanable with amagnification in a range between 1× and 1000× magnification, such as bya microscope, or between 1× and 10×, such as by a camera on a cellphone, and more particularly, between 1× and 9× magnification. However,it is contemplated and possible that the indicia 20 may be visible in arange between 1× and 5000×, where the indicia 20 would be microscopic.In further embodiments, the indicia 20 may visible in a range of 1× to2000×, 1× to 1000×, 1× to 100×, 1× to 50×, 1× to 25×, 1× to 15×, 1× to8×, 1× to 7×, 1× to 6×, 1× to 5×, 1× to 4×, 1× to 3×, 1× to 2×, or thelike. The indicia 20 may be sized and shaped so that the culet 18 has asize and shape equal to or greater than a size and shape of the scanableindicia 20. In embodiments where the table 16 and/or the culet 18 areshaped as a square, the indicia 20 may have a size equal to the size ofthe culet 18 so that the indicia 20 covers the entire nonilluminatedportion 26. The indicia 20 may include a plurality of corners 40, suchas four corners, that, when the indicia 20 has a size equal to a size ofthe culet 18, the corners 40 of the indicia 20 are positioned to beequally spaced out from a plurality of corners 42 of the culet 18, withmargins as discussed above. The indicia 20 may be additionally oralternatively sized and shaped so that the table 16 has a size and shapeequal to or greater than a size and shape of the indicia 20.

The scanable indicia 20 may be configured to be scanned by the scanningdevice 14 (FIG. 6 ), and further configured to transfer information tothe scanning device 14. In some embodiments, the scanable indicia 20 maybe used to authenticate the gemstone 12, such as, for example,identifying the location that the gemstone 12 was mined, cut, or thelike. The gemstone 12 may be attached to an item, such as clothing,accessories, artwork, picture frames, jewelry, or the like, such thatthe scanable indicia 20 may be used to authenticate the item that thegemstone 12 is attached to. The gemstone 12 may act as a Web 3-enabledasset tag. In such embodiments, the gemstone 12 may be attached to theitem with any traditional setting, including a bezel setting. Thescanable indicia 20 may additionally or alternatively be used in anytraditional manner that a barcode is used, such as, for example, to gainaccess to an exclusive event or location, to link to a website to viewinformation or send/view a message, or the like.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the scanning device 14 may include a controller50, a scanner 52, and a display 54. In embodiments, the scanning device14 may be a portable device, such as a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop,or the like. However, it is contemplated and possible that the scanningdevice 14 may be a non-portable device, such as, for example, a desktop.The controller 50, the scanner 52, and the display 54 may becommunicatively coupled via a communication path 56 that provides signalinterconnectivity between various components and/or modules of thescanning device 14. As such, the controller 50 may include aninput/output (I/O) interface configured to provide digital and/or analoginputs and outputs. The I/O interface can be used to transferinformation between internal storage and external input and/or outputdevices (e.g., display). The I/O interface can include associatedcircuitry or BUS networks to transfer such information. Such a BUS orassociated circuitry can allow the components to be communicativelycoupled. As used herein, the term “communicatively coupled” means thatcoupled components are capable of exchanging data signals with oneanother such as, for example, electrical signals via conductive medium,electromagnetic signals via air, optical signals via optical waveguides,and the like.

The controller 50 includes a processor 58 and a non-transitoryelectronic memory 60 to which various components are communicativelycoupled. In some embodiments, the processor 58 and the non-transitoryelectronic memory 60 and/or the other components are included within asingle device. In other embodiments, the processor 58 and thenon-transitory electronic memory 60 and/or the other components may bedistributed among multiple devices that are communicatively coupled. Thecontroller 50 includes non-transitory electronic memory 60 that stores aset of machine-readable instructions. The processor 58 executes themachine-readable instructions stored in the non-transitory electronicmemory 60. The machine-readable instructions may include software thatcontrols operation of the processor 58 to perform the operationsdescribed herein to be performed by the controller 50. Thenon-transitory electronic memory 60 may include volatile memory andnon-volatile memory for storing instructions and data. The non-volatilememory may include solid-state memories, such as NAND flash memory,magnetic and optical storage media, or any other suitable data storagedevice that retains data when the processor is deactivated or loseselectrical power. Non-volatile storage may store compiled and/orinterpreted from computer programs created using a variety ofprogramming languages and/or technologies, including, withoutlimitation, and either alone or in combination, Java, C, C++, C#,Objective C, Fortran, Pascal, Java Script, Python, Perl, and PL/SQL. Thevolatile memory may include static and/or dynamic random-access memory(RAM), flash memory, cache memory, or other memory capable of storingprogram instructions and data. In short, the non-transitory electronicmemory 60 may include RAM, ROM, flash memories, hard drives, or anydevice capable of storing machine-readable instructions such that themachine-readable instructions can be accessed by the processor 58 tooutput a control signal for the controller 60 to act on. Thenon-transitory electronic memory 60 may be implemented as one memorymodule or a plurality of memory modules.

The processor 58 may be any device capable of executing machine-readableinstructions. For example, the processor 58 may be or include anintegrated circuit, a microchip, a computer, a microprocessor, amicro-controller, a digital signal processor, a microcomputers, acentral processing unit, field programmable gate arrays, programmablelogic devices, state machines, logic circuits, analog circuits, digitalcircuits, or any other devices that manipulate signals (analog ordigital) based on computer-executable instructions residing in memory.The non-transitory electronic memory 60 and the processor 58 are coupledto the communication path 56 that provides signal interconnectivitybetween various components and/or modules of the scanning device 14.Accordingly, the communication path 56 may communicatively couple anynumber of processors with one another, and allow the modules coupled tothe communication path 56 to operate in a distributed computingenvironment.

The scanner 52 may be configured to scan the scanable indicia 20, andsend a signal to the controller 50 indicative of the information of thescanable indicia 20. The scanner 52 may be any device or sensor capableof scanning the scanable indicia 20, such as, for example, a camera, abarcode scanner, or the like. The scanner 52 may be mounted directly tothe scanning device 14, or separately connected thereto, such as by auniversal serial bus (USB), wireless communication (e.g., WiFi, 3G, 4G,5G, Bluetooth, etc.) or the like. As discussed above, the information ofthe scanable indicia 20 may include a web address, information regardingthe authenticity and/or origin of the gemstone 12 or related item thatthe gemstone 12 is attached to, or the like. In embodiments, theinformation may include a blockchain used for identifying orauthenticating the gemstone 12 or related item. In further embodiments,the controller 50 may be configured to identify, via the scanner 52,whether the gemstone 12 is a diamond, or another type of gemstone, suchas a sapphire, ruby, emerald, or the like.

The controller 50 may be communicatively coupled to an external device,such as, for example, a server, an internet of things, or the like, tosend/receive signals related to the scanable indicia 20. For example, inembodiments where the scanable indicia 20 includes information relatedto a web address, the controller 50 may communicative with an internetof things to load the web address. The controller 50 may becommunicatively coupled to the display 54 to be able to send signals tothe display 54 indicative of the information of the scanable indicia 20received by the scanner 52. When the display 54 receives the signal fromthe controller 50, the display 54 may be configured to display theinformation of the scanable indicia 20. The display 54 may be anytraditional display for displaying visual information to a user, suchas, for example, a screen (e.g., LED, LCD, QLED, etc.). However, it iscontemplated and possible that the display 54 may be include non-visualdisplays of information such as a speaker, a tactile feedback device, orthe like.

In another embodiment, the controller 50 may be configured to operate adevice for cutting the gemstone 12, such as a laser, an ablation device,or the like. The memory 60 may include instructions that, when executedby the processor 58, cause the cutting device to activate and cut in adesired location or pattern. The cutting patterns may also be saved inthe memory 60. Upon activation, the controller 50 may cause a roboticarm, laser light source, ablation device, or the like to be active toproperly place the gemstone 12 and make the proper cuts. The controller50 may be configured to operate the laser light source to form theindicia into the gemstone 12.

Referring now to FIG. 7 , a flowchart of a method 100 of forming and useof the gemstone 12 is depicted. At step 102, the method may includecutting the gemstone 12 to form the table 16 and the culet 18 extendingparallel or substantially parallel to the table 16. This may be done,for example, using the controller as described with reference to FIG. 6. The method 100 may further include cutting additional surfaces intothe gemstone 12, such as, for example, the pavilion 36, the girdle 38,and the crown 30. The method 100 may further include surface treatingone or both of the culet 18 and the pavilion 36 with the surfacetreatment described above to increase visibility of the indicia 20.

At step 104, the method 100 may include forming the scanable indicia 20into the gemstone 12. Forming the scanable indicia 20 may includeforming the indicia 20 at least partially positioned within theorthographic projection 22 of the area A2 extending along the axis X,and may include laser treating the scanable indicia 20 below a surface28 of the table 16 between the table 16 and the culet 18. The lasertreatment includes aligning two lasers to a position in the gemstone 12that, individually, cannot form a marking and, when the two lasers meetat the position in the gemstone 12, turn the carbon atoms in thegemstone 12 to graphene, causing the location to appear darker than therest of the gemstone 12. However, it is contemplated and possible thatthe scanable indicia 20 may be formed into the gemstone 12 in any knownmanner, such as, for example, alternative laser methods or chemicaletching.

At step 106, the method 100 may include scanning the scanable indicia 20with the scanning device 14. Scanning the scanable indicia 20 mayinclude aligning the scanner 52 of the scanning device 14 along the axisX of the gemstone 12 to scan the indicia 20. At step 108, once thescanable indicia 20 is scanned, the method 100 may include receivinginformation related to the scanable indicia 20, and displaying theinformation related to the scanable indicia 20.

Referring now to FIG. 8 , another gemstone 70 is depicted. The gemstone70 is similar to the gemstone 12 described above, with exception to thedetails described below. For brevity, like features will not bedescribed again. The gemstone 70 may include a crown 72 that includesfive facets 74 such that a table 76 is shaped as a pentagon. A scanableindicia 78 may include a plurality of corners 80, such as four corners,that contact a periphery 82 of the table 76. The periphery 82 may be aplurality of edges where the table 76 intersects the crown 72 to definea profile of the table 76. In embodiments where the table 76 includesmore or less facets 74, the corners 80 of the indicia 78 may similarlycontact a periphery of the table 76.

Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B, in particular embodiments, a gemstone 120is provided having similar features to the gemstone 12 described above,such as a table 122, a culet 124, a girdle 126, and a scanable indicia128 similar to the table 16, the culet 18, the girdle 38, and theindicia 20 described above. For brevity, these features and additionalsimilar features will not be described again. As will be described ingreater detail below, the gemstone 120 may be formed from a round,brilliant cut diamond (RBC) by removing top and bottom portions from theRBC to decrease a thickness of the gemstone 120 between the table 122and the culet 124, and to increase a size, or area, of the culet 124.The gemstone 120 may have a diameter of 6 mm at the girdle 126, athickness of 1.2 mm between the table 122 and the culet 124, measuredperpendicularly to each of the table 122 and the culet 124, and theculet 124 may have a diameter or width of 2.538 mm. The indicia 128 mayhave a width of 2.9 mm measured on a side of the indicia 128, and thetable 122 may have a width of 3.68 mm, such that the indicia 128 has amargin of 0.39 mm on each side of the indicia 128, where the margin, asdiscussed above, is a spacing between a side of the indicia 128 and anadjacent side of the table 122. In other words, the margin may be aspacing between a perimeter of the indicia 128 and a perimeter of thetable 122. The size of the culet 124 allows the culet 124 to cover amajority of the indicia 128 when viewed perpendicularly to and throughthe table 122, allowing the indicia 128 to be visible and scanable.

The gemstone 120 may be cut from the RBC to have a lesser thickness,such as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B. Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B, thegemstone 120 is depicted having a thickness of 0.5 mm, where additionalmaterial is removed from the RBC to reduce the thickness of the gemstone120. With this thickness, the culet 124 has a diameter of 5.174 mm. Thislarger culet 124 permits the culet 124 to circumferentially surround theindicia 128 when viewed perpendicularly to and through the table 122,increasing the visibility and scanability of the indicia 128. WhileFIGS. 9A, 9B, 10A, and 10B depict specific measurements for the gemstone120, it is contemplated and possible that the measurements may deviatefrom those specified, and may be larger or smaller while maintaining thesame proportions of the gemstone 120, or having a different thickness toincrease or decrease a size of the culet 124.

Referring to FIG. 11 , the RBC 12′ is depicted in an overlay with thegemstone 120 to show how material is removed from the RBC 12′ to formthe gemstone 120. It is contemplated and possible that the followingmethod be applicable to forming the gemstones 12, 70 discussed above. Toform the gemstone 120 from the RBC 12′, a top portion 14′ of the RBC 12′may be cut off to increase a size of the table 122 of the gemstone 120,where the top portion 14′ may be repurposed to be used as, for example,another gemstone. The crown and the girdle of the RBC 12′ may remainuncut during formation of the gemstone 120. A bottom portion 16′ of theRBC 12′ may additionally be cut off to decrease a thickness of thegemstone 120, thereby increasing a size of the culet 124, where thebottom portion 16′ may be repurposed to be used as, for example, anothergemstone. The pavilion 36′ of the RBC 12′ may be left alone, withfacets, or may be smoothed down to remove the facets on the pavilion36′. When cutting the top portion 14′ or the bottom portion 16′ of theRBC 12′ more or less of the top portion 14′ and the bottom portion 16′may be taken off of the RBC 12′ to increase or decrease a size of thetable 122 and the culet 124, respectively.

In some embodiments, an uncut RBC 12′ may be used as the gemstone 12,where the indicia 20 is etched into the RBC 12′. An uncut RBC 12′ wouldresult in the gemstone 120 having a smaller area of the table 122, andmay not include a culet, such that the size of the indicia 20 must bedecreased. To decrease a size of the indicia 20, a micro QR code may beused. The uncut RBC 12′ may include the paint or coating discussed aboveon the pavilion of the RBC 12′ to increase visibility of the indicia 20.

The current disclosure is further defined in the following clauses:

Clause 1. A gemstone including: a table defining an area; and a scanableindicia formed in the gemstone at least partially positioned within anorthographic projection of the area extending along an axis, the axisextending perpendicularly through the table.

Clause 2. The gemstone according to the preceding clause, furtherincluding: a culet extending parallel to the table, the culet defining asecond area; and an illuminated portion and a nonilluminated portionseparate from the illuminated portion, the illuminated portion has agreater brightness than a brightness of the nonilluminated portion, andthe nonilluminated portion is an entire volume of the gemstone thatintersects an orthographic projection of the second area along the axis.

Clause 3. The gemstone according to clause 2, the indicia is formedwithin the gemstone between the table and the culet.

Clause 4. The gemstone according to clauses 2 or 3, wherein the gemstoneincludes a surface treatment at least partially over the culet thatreflects diffused light through the gemstone.

Clause 5. The gemstone according to any of clauses 2-4, wherein theculet has a size and shape equal to a size and shape of the scanableindicia.

Clause 6. The gemstone according to any of clauses 1-5, wherein thescanable indicia is visible with a magnification in a range between 1×and 1000× magnification.

Clause 7. The gemstone according to any of clauses 1-6, wherein thescanable indicia is configured to be scanned by a scanning device.

Clause 8. The gemstone according to any of clauses 1-7, wherein thegemstone includes a crown having a plurality of facets, the facetsdefining a shape of the table, and the shape of the table is selectedfrom one of an octagon, hexagon, pentagon, square, rectangle, circle andtriangle.

Clause 9. The gemstone according to clause 8, wherein the gemstoneincludes a crown having four facets, and the table is shaped as asquare.

Clause 10. The gemstone according to any of clauses 1-9, wherein thescanable indicia is a barcode.

Clause 11. The gemstone according to clause 10, wherein the scanableindicia is a QR code.

Clause 12. A method of authentication, the method including: cutting agemstone to form a table defining an area; forming a scanable indicia atleast partially positioned within an orthographic projection of the areaextending along an axis, the axis extending perpendicularly through thetable.

Clause 13. The method according to the preceding clause, furtherincluding cutting a culet that extends in parallel with the table,wherein forming the scanable indicia includes laser treating thescanable indicia within the gemstone between the table and the culet.

Clause 14. The method according to clause 13, further including surfacetreating the culet to increase visibility of the scanable indicia.

Clause 15. The method according to any of clauses 12-14, furtherincluding scanning the scanable indicia with a scanning device byaligning a scanner of the scanning device along the axis of the gemstoneto scan the indicia.

Clause 16. The method according to clause 15, further includingreceiving information related to the scanable indicia.

Clause 17. A gemstone including a scanable indicia formed into thegemstone that is sized to be visible between 1× and 1000× magnification,the scanable indicia is configured to convey information when scanned bya scanning device.

Clause 18. The gemstone according to clause 17, wherein the scanableindicia is a QR code.

Clause 19. The gemstone according to clause 17 or 18, further including:a table; a culet extending parallel to the table, the culet defining anarea; and a surface treatment on the culet that increases visibility ofthe scanable indicia, wherein the scanable indicia is formed into thegemstone at least partially positioned within an orthographic projectionof the area extending along an axis, the axis extending perpendicularlythrough the table and the culet.

Clause 20. The gemstone according to clause 19, further including anilluminated portion and a nonilluminated portion separate from theilluminated portion, the illuminated portion has a greater brightnessthan a brightness of the nonilluminated portion, and the nonilluminatedportion is an entire volume of the gemstone that intersects theorthographic projection of the area of the culet along the axis.

Clause 21. A gemstone including: a table; a culet extending parallel tothe table, the culet defining an area; and a scanable indicia formed inthe gemstone at least partially positioned within an orthographicprojection of the area extending along an axis, the axis extendingperpendicularly through the table and the culet.

Clause 22. The gemstone according to clause 21, wherein the tabledefines an area that has a size equal to a size of the area of theculet.

Clause 23. A gemstone including: a table defining an area; and a meansfor conveying information when scanned by a scanning device, the meansformed in the gemstone at least partially positioned within anorthographic projection of the area extending along an axis, the axisextending perpendicularly through the table.

It is noted that the terms “substantially” and “about” may be utilizedherein to represent the inherent degree of uncertainty that may beattributed to any quantitative comparison, value, measurement, or otherrepresentation. These terms are also utilized herein to represent thedegree by which a quantitative representation may vary from a statedreference without resulting in a change in the basic function of thesubject matter at issue.

While particular embodiments have been illustrated and described herein,it should be understood that various other changes and modifications maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimedsubject matter. Moreover, although various aspects of the claimedsubject matter have been described herein, such aspects need not beutilized in combination. It is therefore intended that the appendedclaims cover all such changes and modifications that are within thescope of the claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A gemstone comprising: a table defining an area;and a scanable indicia formed in the gemstone at least partiallypositioned within an orthographic projection of the area extending alongan axis, the axis extending perpendicularly through the table.
 2. Thegemstone of claim 1, further comprising: a culet extending parallel tothe table, the culet defining a second area; and an illuminated portionand a nonilluminated portion separate from the illuminated portion, theilluminated portion has a greater brightness than a brightness of thenonilluminated portion, and the nonilluminated portion is an entirevolume of the gemstone that intersects an orthographic projection of thesecond area along the axis.
 3. The gemstone of claim 2, the indicia isformed within the gemstone between the table and the culet.
 4. Thegemstone of claim 2, wherein the gemstone comprises a surface treatmentat least partially over the culet that reflects diffused light throughthe gemstone.
 5. The gemstone of claim 2, wherein the culet has a sizeand shape equal to a size and shape of the scanable indicia.
 6. Thegemstone of claim 1, wherein the scanable indicia is visible with amagnification in a range between 1× and 1000× magnification.
 7. Thegemstone of claim 1, wherein the scanable indicia is configured to bescanned by a scanning device.
 8. The gemstone of claim 1, wherein thegemstone comprises a crown having a plurality of facets, the facetsdefining a shape of the table, and the shape of the table is selectedfrom one of an octagon, hexagon, pentagon, square, rectangle, circle andtriangle.
 9. The gemstone of claim 8, wherein the gemstone comprises acrown having four facets, and the table is shaped as a square.
 10. Thegemstone of claim 1, wherein the scanable indicia is a barcode.
 11. Thegemstone of claim 10, wherein the scanable indicia is a QR code.
 12. Amethod of authentication, the method comprising: cutting a gemstone toform a table defining an area; forming a scanable indicia at leastpartially positioned within an orthographic projection of the areaextending along an axis, the axis extending perpendicularly through thetable.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising cutting a culetthat extends in parallel with the table, wherein forming the scanableindicia comprises laser treating the scanable indicia within thegemstone between the table and the culet.
 14. The method of claim 13,further comprising surface treating the culet to increase visibility ofthe scanable indicia.
 15. The method of claim 12, further comprisingscanning the scanable indicia with a scanning device by aligning ascanner of the scanning device along the axis of the gemstone to scanthe indicia.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising receivinginformation related to the scanable indicia.
 17. A gemstone comprising ascanable indicia formed into the gemstone that is sized to be visiblebetween 1× and 1000× magnification, the scanable indicia is configuredto convey information when scanned by a scanning device.
 18. Thegemstone of claim 17, wherein the scanable indicia is a QR code.
 19. Thegemstone of claim 17, further comprising: a table; a culet extendingparallel to the table, the culet defining an area; and a surfacetreatment on the culet that increases visibility of the scanableindicia, wherein the scanable indicia is formed into the gemstone atleast partially positioned within an orthographic projection of the areaextending along an axis, the axis extending perpendicularly through thetable and the culet.
 20. The gemstone of claim 19, further comprising anilluminated portion and a nonilluminated portion separate from theilluminated portion, the illuminated portion has a greater brightnessthan a brightness of the nonilluminated portion, and the nonilluminatedportion is an entire volume of the gemstone that intersects theorthographic projection of the area of the culet along the axis.
 21. Agemstone comprising: a table; a culet extending parallel to the table,the culet defining an area; and a scanable indicia formed in thegemstone at least partially positioned within an orthographic projectionof the area extending along an axis, the axis extending perpendicularlythrough the table and the culet.
 22. The gemstone of claim 21, whereinthe table defines an area that has a size equal to a size of the area ofthe culet.